Recall efforts to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office is close to the 1.5 million signatures it needs to get on the ballot.
Supporters of the recall need about 1.5 million signatures to trigger an election and now say they are only about 50,000 signatures shy of that goal, with more than a month until the deadline.With only 50,000 signatures needed and more than a month until the deadline, the recall looks as if it will happen.
The signatures will need to be verified by the state, so the recall campaign will need to gather significantly more than 1.5 million in order to ensure that they have enough to proceed. But the recall, which started off as a long shot Republican-led campaign in a heavily Democratic state is now looking more likely.
Although Newsom’s performance with respect to the pandemic has been the primary push for his recall, Orrin Heatlie, who’s leading the campaign told CBS13 in Sacramento, “There are a lot of things that have driven the recall forward.”
Heatlie adds that business owners and senior citizens are two of the biggest groups supporting the campaign.
A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey found that Newsom slumped to just 46% of voter approval.
That compares with 60 percent backing just four months ago.
Poll director Mark DiCamillo tells KNX 1070 News there are also numbers on the recall campaign.
"Thirty six percent of voters say they would vote 'yes' to recall the governor and 45 percent would vote 'no' to keep him in office. But a very large 19 percent said they were not sure and that includes 20 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of no party preference voters so I think a number of voters are just waiting to see how things play out," he says.